Happy St. Patty Day!
To the guest asking why I'm writing and posting this series: It's quite simple; I like it, and some people happen to like it too. What am I trying to accomplish? Doing what I want. Dassit.
Four statuesquely round towers were forged together by white walls of solid stone. Archways of stone corridors floated above ground level, creating alternative routes through such a grand castle. Fortified atop the flattened peak of the purple mountain that towered above the endless fluffy sea of pink clouds. Fiery flames of the sunset burned to the east of the mountain, the supreme cosmic light. And the icy rock of the crescent moon rose to the west, the lamp of darkness. Both celestial bodies equally balanced in their majestic beauty, painting strokes of bright reds and dark blues in an artistic ombre across the sky.
Combat boots of the Fairy Commander traversed the stone path through the mountain's murky cave, small flames of wall-mounted candles casting a yellowish glow. Cradling a pink fairy in his left arm with the side of her rosette curls supported against the pec of his chest while the green fairy hung like a loose jacket on his right arm, limp hands dangling with each long step. Jorgen was transporting the fairy couple to the location of the other puny fairies hidden within the cave. Following his clear instructions yet still unclear of his grand leaders' intentions overall.
Jorgen Von Strangle restrained a troubled grimace; in the millenniums of working closely with the Fairy Council, he'd become attune to their powerful magic almost like a magical link, even from as far a distance from Earth as he was. What he sensed felt implacably grim, ruthless. Vindictive. That which greatly opposed the moral high grounds that the supreme rulers of Fairy World and banishers of The Darkness normally stood on.
Da Rules clearly state not to directly use magic to hurt or kill anyone, whether fae or human. Then again, the Council were Da Rules' authors, and Jorgen was just the enforcer. Who was he to judge the eldest, most powerful fairies in the universe in breaking their own rules?
Within the graveled ceiling and granitic walls of the room carved into the mountain's side, a lone glass door led out onto the gravel terrace encased in a dome roof of solid glass displaying the sun setting to the east. Seeping orangey-red hues along the purple stone walls and white quilt of the queen bed where two female godparents lay. One of whom icy-blue eyes could not tear his stare away from.
Sitting Indian-style atop the front edge of his bed below the twin-size bunkbed, Alondro held arms folded to his chest. Gentle eyes fixed upon the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. The kinks of her afro curled atop the forehead of her ebony skin smooth like milky chocolate. Cheeks gently rounding the perfect frame of her face, full lips parted in rhythmic breaths with her head faintly tilted to one side.
She was fast asleep just like the woman next to her, a woman with her own marmalade curls. Tucked in with the white quilt of the queen bed beneath the other bunkbed across the room. Alondro couldn't pinpoint his infatuation with a woman of whom he only knew by name; Susanna Sprinkle. It had a familiar ring to it. Like a love that was long lost...
"Starin' at a woman while she sleeps? Weirdo."
Alondro turned to look up towards the bed above him, smirking at the teasing chuckle of a fairy laying on his side with a propped elbow, high enough on the bunk to touch the ceiling with a finger. A man who was no stranger, but had been like an hermano to him. "Callarse, Irving."
To Alondro's left lounged the female couple atop the lone queen bed nearest the glass door. Nyekundu rested her cheek to her girlfriend's chest, allowing Swizzle's tender fingers to scratch the red of her fro-hawk. "You were staring at Juandissimo earlier, too."
Nyekundu's mention of the fellow Hispanic fairy led Alondro to redirect his gaze to the male fairy across the room from him. Partially covered by white quilt resting on his right side with the faint rise and fall of his shoulders in the top bunk above the female fairies in the queen bed below. He had been the first of the newer crop of godparents that Jorgen had carried into the bunker within a cave, and when Alondro had first seen him, something flickered in his heart. Not an amorous spark, but a glint or reunited kin.
Though both of Hispanic descent, Alondro bore no relation to the Magnifico surname. At least…none that he was aware of.
"Hey, Juan's a gorgeous man." Irving remarked facetiously. "If I wasn't married, I'd stare at 'em too."
Swizzle's cynicism groaned. "Glad you can make light of this bullshit…"
Irving shifted to look down to his fellow Fairy World High alumni, curling a light smirk. "And ya wonder where ya godkid gets that mouth of hers from."
"Oh, shuddup!" Swizzle had half a mind to flip that big-nose pighead the bird. "We've been stuck in here with all these questions and no answers!"
"C'moooon, Swizzie." Irving crooned, pretending to pout. His playful mood opposing her grumpy attitude. "Cheer uuuup."
Swizzle lasered her glare towards him. After being trapped in one room like glorified prisoners for the gods know how long, it's best not to poke at an angry bear. "You can be a real douche sometimes, you know that?!"
"Babe, calm down…" Nyekundu calmly reached for the fingers that had stopped scratching her coils, taking them into hers. Attempting to water her girlfriend's agitated fire. "You might wake the others..."
"Yeah, Swizzie." Irving batted a bantering eye. "Belligerence don't suit ya."
Right before Swizzle could threaten to shove her foot up Irving's ass, the twist of the only compact door to the room caught the conscious godparents' attention. seeing the rocky barrier swing open as the brawns of their commander entered, shutting the door with the bottom of his boot. As he cradled the pregnant fairy and slung her husband into the room, the godparents watched as Jorgen approached. Traveling past the kitchenette on his left and the modular couch and granite coffee table on his right before ducking his head beneath the stone arch that led into the room of beds.
"So…" Alondro kept calm arms folded, watching as Jorgen passed the three sleeping godparents on his left before slowing to the formerly unoccupied queen bed across from Swizzle and Nyekundu. "…when will you tell us what is going on?"
"When I know what is going on…" Jorgen grumbled his truth, careful in lowering Wanda to the bed. Ensuring the back of her pink curls hit the pillow before two of his large fingers pinched the back of Cosmo's small shirt, picking him off his arm.
He positioned Cosmo to face his wife on his side, setting him next to her. Soon after, Cosmo's arm moved, clutching onto Wanda's undisturbed arm as he shifted, settling his cheek onto her shoulder. Reactively, Wanda's head tilted to nestle her cheek against her husband's green shag. All while submerged in sopor.
"Can you at least finally tell us where the kids are?" Swizzle questioned, making Jorgen sigh as he faced four sets of eyes eager for the answers that he simply couldn't give.
"Unfortunately, I am unauthorize to disclose that."
"Don't make no sennnnse…" Irving slouched in his grouse.
"I know, but it's above me." Jorgen admitted solemnly. "Council's orders."
Tentatively, Nyekundu asked "…are they alright, at least?"
Without giving too much away, Jorgen felt he could at least give their concern some sort of assurance. "They're the safest anyone of them would be on Earth right now."
Why was that far from reassuring?
Discomforted gazes followed Jorgen as he faced his back to them, pacing back towards the stone door. "Oh, and when the others wake up, just repeat everything I just said." he grumbled so he wouldn't have to repeat himself. "I'm sure they'll have the exact same questions…"
Left unresolved, the fairies exchanged glances as the Fairy Commander swung the door behind him upon his exit.
Baby blue fluttered as the fog lifted, welcomed by the purest white. Warm and snug on the softest cloud of tranquility, greeted with the unacquainted guest of peace. At first, addled thoughts assumed that his young soul had ascended to finally reunite with the twin sister he treasured. That was until three more lethargic blinks focused on the gothic patterns of vaulted ribs carved in white wood along the ceiling.
The exhale of a composed breath further confirmed that death had not claimed him. As the groggy haze dissipated, he conjured the strength to sit up, finding his legs covered in a blue blanket. This can't be his bedroom; none of the walls were as white as the ones currently surrounding him. Nor was it this massive with four other twin beds lined in a row against the wall across from him. Each unoccupied bed framed in a woodsy design was quilted with different shades of teal, navy, indigo, and fuchsia. When he turned to his left, three other twin beds contained his two classmates and the little sister of his babysitter.
In the bed beside him, purple specs lay next to the raven ponytails peacefully pressed to her pillow. Braces exposed through parted lips of quiet breaths, the center of Tootie's chest rising and falling beneath a purple quilt. Looking further to his left, the pink-hatted boy spotted the even blonde swoops nearly engulfed in his cotton pillow, covered in a red blanket from the shoulder down.
Another bed stood next to Remy's, one quilted in yellow. Unlike the other beds, the pillow was empty.
"…Chloe?" Timmy quietly spoke out to the platinum blonde sitting upright with arms draped around her drawn knees, spotting the glum in blue orbs that shifted towards him. "Are you okay?"
"Yes…" the somberness in her tone was a terrible liar.
"…any idea where we are?"
Chloe was more honest when she shook her head. She had been the first to awaken, and though there was a hint of solace to learn that she wasn't alone, irrational doubt and despair clouded the logic to scoop out the strange environment. She had no idea if they were all kidnapped, if they were locked in this room against their will. Or if they were safe.
Drawing back the covers, Timmy planted his shoes to the sheening tiles of white marble. Stretching heavy sleep out his arms in a bleary yawn before he stood to his feet. "…when did you wake up?"
"I don't know…" Chloe had no idea how long she had been awake.
A knuckle rubbed the corner of his eye in his saunter passed Tootie and Remy. Taking a look around to find no clocks or any indicators of time. When Timmy looked to his right, shades of orangey-red rays glistened along white marble. Shadows of flowery pedals etched into the stained glass of windows rooted at the floor's base and arched all the way to the ceiling.
The rise of the crescent moon from the west, clear as day, caught his eye. Prompting him to walk away from Chloe's bed and up the four steps of the rounded platform. As a tiny spec compared to the immensity of the windows, he gawked at the endless blanket of pink clouds. Feeling as if he were peering out the window of an airplane at its highest altitude, astounded at just how high they were.
"…w-where am I…"
"Remy?" Chloe turned to the tired groan of the young billionaire, holding his head as he willed himself to sit up. "…are you okay?"
"…maybe…?" Remy's head was swimming as he slowly shifted to where his leather shoes dangled over the edge, hands planted on the mattress for stability. He felt almost as delirious as an alcoholic's hangover.
Timmy had left the view of the crescent moon when he too had heard Remy shift in bed, walking over to stand between Chloe and Remy's beds. "I suppose you don't know where we are, do you?
"…no?" Remy squinted. He just woke up from the hardest sleep of his life. How the heck would he know?
"What do you remember last?" Chloe figured they'd start there.
Remy dropped his pensive gaze, sorting through the haze of his clouded memories. "Last I remember…was a kid in my room…"
"Same." Timmy admitted. "I have no clue how they got there. They just randomly showed up. Then they touched me with weird magic coming out of their hands, and next I know, I wake up in this place."
"Me too…" Chloe tugged at a platinum strand, aggrieved of what she remembered last. "And they were one of the children who'd been missing since last week."
"Hmm…" Timmy scratched an imaginary beard. He was the most familiar with his cousin's disappearance; the only reason he knew about the others was word of mouth from AJ who, for some reason, tuned into the news like a football fanatic never missing the Superbowl. AJ had never mentioned other names or physical characteristics, just the information of their last whereabouts.
Gary had been last seen at the hospital with his friend, another boy who'd been assaulted by some 8th graders. Gary's only friends were other godkids, and just based off that, Timmy could at least conclude that the other boy had to have been Dwight. As far as Molly and Hazel, he had not seen them since they'd met that one time and unfortunately knew too little about their personal life to assume they were the other two missing children.
The whimpering stir of a little girl turned their heads. Tootie tossed and turned before her eyes flashed with a shuddered gasp. No clue where she was, uncertain of how she'd gotten there. It didn't help that her surroundings blurred into a white blob with specs of color.
Instinctively, her palm patted along the mattress in search of her visual aid. Relief escaped in a terse breath when the plastic of round rims brushed her fingers, adjusting them to her face before fuzzy outlines sharpened into 20/20 vision. Her eyes darted every which way, from the Alabaster columns between the head of the bedframes, to the huge crescent moon peering through the flowery-stained panels of glass windows. To the three sets of eyes staring right at her.
Startled, Tootie clutched the purple quilt to her chest.
"It's okay, Tootie. You don't have to be scared."
Trembling weakly, Tootie lowered the shield of her purple quilt. Just the gentleness of Timmy's voice eased her. Made her feel less alone. Swallowing a nervous lump, she mustered the courage to climb out of bed. Once babydolls were established along white marble, she draped her arms around herself as she stood. Cautious in her steps approaching the other godchildren gathered around the bed quilted in yellow.
"…are you okay?" Chloe questioned from the slight tremble in Tootie's legs. Stripped from the normalcy of routine into a strange and mysterious place, her empathy acknowledged Tootie's anxiety of the unknown.
"Guess she doesn't understand what's going on." Timmy spoke for Tootie under his own assumptions. "Just like us."
"Here's something I don't understand…" Remy too rose from his bed once the dizzy waters drained "…where're our godparents?"
Chloe broadened her eyes at the realization that their godparents had not made themselves known, and Timmy furrowed his gaze to the ground. So distracted by the ambiguity of his new surroundings, he had been unaware of the missing chunk in his spirit. In his attempts to reach out to Sophia for any possible answers, his spiritual reach kept hitting a brick wall. He heard nothing of her. Felt nothing of her. As if she was just…dead.
Dismay panged in his heart.
"…do you guys think that's what those other beds are for?" Chloe quizzed, pointing out the four beds across the room.
Timmy pulled himself together in a deep breath. They wouldn't understand his disheartenment, and he was in no mood to explain. "I don't think our godparents would just leave us in some strange place all by ourselves."
"Agreed…" Remy concurred with Turner's reasoning. "…but that doesn't explain why they're not here."
Chloe licked dry lips, flicked with the image of Susie thudding to the floor "…what if something happened to them?"
Tootie continued to hug herself, glancing at Timmy who would then suggest "Maybe we can try to look for them."
"Okay…" Remy droned "…where?"
Turning to his left past the beds, Timmy gestured to the arch of double doors, large planks of wood painted in stripes of yellow, blue, pink, purple, and turquoise. "We can start by seeing what's outside this room."
Chloe's doubts hesitated. "As in leave?"
"…yeah?" Timmy made his way towards the only visible exit. "How else are we supposed to find our godparents?"
Remy arched a brow. "And we're just going blindly with no idea what could be out there?"
Timmy shrugged. "What could possibly go wrong?"
Lacking an argument to that logic, the young billionaire exhaled a sigh, folding his arms as he followed behind the pink-hatted boy towards the double doors. The two girls shared apprehensive looks before raven ponytails scurried off to catch up with the boys, and after a mental debate between the possibility of unfavorable outcomes and taking a leap of faith, Chloe had barely becalmed herself enough to move her feet.
Before Timmy could attempt to open the door, periwinkle-blue sparkles parted the heaviness of the doors in gradual creaks like the parting of the Red Sea. Timmy stumbled back towards the others, waiting for the creaks to come to a booming halt once the doors had nowhere else to swing.
Timmy's eyes flickered, unsure of what to make of the phenomenon other than "…that's convenient."
When the four godchildren stepped out of the room, periwinkle-blue shimmered as the parted doors retreated in the same gradual speed. An echo rang through the white stone when the door clanked shut, startling the youngest child in a mousy yelp. Timmy looked both ways down the hollow corridors of white stone walls, porcelain marble floors shaded in the artistic array of colors from the archways that framed rainbow-stained glass windows. Feeling a sense a familiarity as they began their venture "…this isn't Fairy Fort, is it?"
Looking up at the vaulted wood ribbed in similar patterns of gothic arches along the ceiling, Remy didn't recognize the glistening assortment of turquoise, pink, purple, and blue crystals hanging like chandeliers centered in the ceiling's highest peak. "I don't think so…"
Chloe didn't remember Fairy Fort being overtaken by naturistic greenery inside the cracks within the stone, snaked like whimsical vines along the white stone Alabaster columns supporting the ceiling arches. "There weren't this many plants inside..."
Quiet in her steps behind the other kids, Tootie dug nails into the back of crossed arms. She seemed so small with how tall the walls were. If Rose was here, she'd assure that there was nothing to be afraid of. Thinking of her godmother pressed gloss behind her eyes. The last she saw of her was watching helplessly as a hooded figure blasted her to the ground.
She bit the faint quiver in her lip; she couldn't bear the thought of Rose getting hurt. Or worse…
When she felt her arms move against their will, she stalled in her steps as she glanced down at the lavender shimmers glittering against her chest, materializing a mysterious object in her grasp. A book of black leather, stuffed with papers and a pen of black ink clipped on the spine, emerged from the lavender sparkles that soon faded once Tootie's diffident fingers gripped onto it. She had a notebook that looked exactly like the one she was holding. Wait…was this her notebook?
Eager to find out, she flipped through its pages stained with age. Turning page after page, seeing old wishes that she'd written down for Rose to grant. Finding sketches of ravens that were like the ones she'd drawn before, in the same order of which she could recall drawing them. Flipping until she spotted the newest sketch of calligraphy, an outline of the words Timmy Turner centered within a drawn heart.
She hitched a gasp in surprise. It was her notebook!
She clasped her eyes that threatened tears of gratitude, squeezing her prized notebook tightly to her sweater vest. In that small moment, where it had come from and how it had returned to her mattered little. Without her godmother, this notebook was her one slither of familiarity in this strange world. Her consolation.
"…are you coming, Tootie?"
Chloe's call to her snapped her back to reality, darting her gaze to the older kids standing in their wait for her. She willed her black baby-dolls to scamper a couple of feet across the marble in order to catch up to them.
Remy pursed his brow towards her upon the observation of the object that he didn't recall being in Tootie's possession before now "…what's that you're holding?"
Tootie pursed her lips, tightening her embrace around her notebook.
"Was that here before?" Timmy questioned, and Tootie shook her head.
"Where did it come from?" Chloe probed, only for Tootie to shrug.
His curiosity wanted to ask why Tootie wasn't talking again. But Timmy figured that, whatever it was, she wouldn't be too willing to divulge. "Let's just keep going…"
Traveling down the corridor, the four reached the end where another wooden door painted in the same pastel rainbow as the door to the room full of beds. Three steps led up to the marbled platform leading to the double doors lined in green and teal leaves. Assuming this led to another room, Timmy led the group up the steps towards the door as periwinkle shimmers pushed the door. Slowly revealing the grandeur of what one would consider the common room.
Sheening light of the crescent moon flooded through stained windows into the room, wall mounted sconces burning more candlelight for the natural ambiance. The sills of the windows were riddled with mossy vines that bloomed in an overgrown boas along the stone walls reclaimed by foliage. Larger shingles of turquoise, blue, purple, and pink centered the high ceiling in a crystalized chandelier, shimmering within the crystal grooves of marbled tile.
Two short steps led down to the sheen of gold leather reflecting along the sectional couch nestled against the short walls within the sunken platform, lining each corner of the pastoral medallion of a woven rug aside. When the clank of the shutting door echoed behind him, Timmy's brows shot up in a high arch of astonishment. Met with the speculative glances of, a black girl with a head of curls, a gothic girl, a dorky boy and a bucktoothed boy seated along the sectional.
"Molly? Dwight? Hazel…Gary?!"
Chloe and Remy eyed Timmy with even Tootie's watchful gaze just as speculative. How did Timmy already know their names?
"Aye, Tim-Tim." Gary stood up from the sectional, the only godchild wearing a casual grin. Taking two steps up the ascending stairs onto the leveled floor. "You're all finally awake."
Taking another scan of Turner, Remy narrowed his gaze towards the boy coming up to them. Guess one mystery was solved; those two could easily pass as the doppelganger of the other. "…cunning resemblance."
Gary fixed his eyes upon the blonde lad, intrigued by the muted yet vibrant dazzle in those mint eyes of his. Not often he came across a kid dressed in a fancy suit for casual wear. "Master of observation." he half rolled his eyes before pointing an introductory thumb to himself. "I'm Gary. Timmy's cousin." Pointing a finger to the other children on the couch from right to left, Gary introduced them as well. "That's Hazel, Molly, and Dwight."
Remy took notice of the other raven-haired girl in the room when she jeered scornfully after her introduction. Arms crossed to her in a deepened glare, scrunching her nose as if to size him up. In return, Remy flattened his brow. He wasn't trying to pick a fight, but he didn't appreciate her obvious disdain towards him that was highly undeserved.
"Excuse me…" Remy stayed poised as he inched forward. "…is there a problem?"
"Yeah!" Molly shot from the couch in a confrontative stance. "I still don't get how the hell some rich snob deserves a godparent!?"
"Don't start, Molly…" Gary gave a warning glance over his shoulder, a warning that Molly's agitation refused to yield to.
"Fuck that!" she charged up the short steps, stopping at a distance far enough to maintain personal space yet close enough to sock a punch if he so much as thought about testing her. "Pretentious jerks like him treat us like peasants! Cuz anybody without as much money as them is just shit under their shoe!"
"What?! You don't even know me!" Remy defended himself. Her balled fists seemed to know much more about him than he did about her.
"I know you're a Buxaplenty!" she spat. "Buxaplentys are just money-hungry fuckwads that send out invites to their fancy little clubs with false promises just to embarrass us like show monkeys!"
As Timmy looked over to Chloe equally confused at the unprovoked confrontation, Remy widened his stare. He never would have recognized her had she not mentioned that night. Only having seen her briefly on a projected screen, he remembered her and that woman as the underprivileged family of the month that night. The night that his nanny took advantage of his weakest point, and his godfather waived his own safety to save him. The night that he had failed to block out, try as he might. Nevertheless, her disdain was highly undeserved.
"…I had nothing to do with that-"
"Are you not a Buxaplenty!?" Molly opposed, edging treacherously close. "Cuz that fuckass tux says so!"
"Stop it, Molly!"
A pitchy squeak caused Molly to snap her head, facing the troubled brow and puckered lips of sulky brown eyes. "But Hazel-"
"He's nice!" Hazel pouted, cradling her knees tighter. "Just leave him alone…please…"
Still attached to her notebook, Tootie observed Molly's reluctance to lower her hostile defenses, growling under her breath as she backed away from Remy's defensive glare. In a sense, Molly's anger sounded like something Tootie had heard before. It sounded like a twinge of pain lay beneath it, just like her older sister...
"…h-hey there."
Tootie stiffly shuddered when she realized that someone had come up to her. She hadn't heard his footsteps, but she saw a freckled boy with auburn hair. His purple eyes studied her through his glasses, as if attempting to remember what he'd clearly forgotten.
"Sorry, um…I think we've met before." Dwight recognized her face, and yet as his brain tried to sort what else he should remember about her, frowning sheepishly when he had to ask "…what's your name again?"
Gulping down dryness, Tootie struggled to remember how to use her voice. Or if she still had it "…D-Dorothy."
"Dorothy…" he faltered. Dang, that should've rung a bell.
Tootie adjusted her notebook in her grasp. Anything to distract from the most awkward stretch of silence before she flinched from the loud snap in his fingers at jogged memory.
"Right! Dorothy!" '
Tootie shifted in place, feeling the bridge of her nose redden.
"It's nice seeing you again…" he rubbed behind his neck "…despite the circumstances."
Molly held an attentive gaze towards Tootie. So she can talk, just chooses not to. Interesting…
"I'll admit," Dwight recalled what had even helped him recognize Tootie at all. "when you'd introduced yourself at my front door, I knew you were a godchild when I saw your bracelet. I just didn't wanna make a spectacle of it…I think I kinda remember how intense your parents were…" he paused "…especially your dad."
Tootie recoiled as the pain and suffering of her past threatened to resurface in the present sense.
"Wait…" Chloe spoke up when she couldn't help but eavesdrop "…I thought your name was Tootie?"
"It's a nickname…" Timmy once again spoke on Tootie's behalf.
"…like how Remy is his middle name?" Chloe considered.
"…really?" Timmy arched a brow to the Buxaplenty nearest him "…then what's your first name?"
Loathing crossed in Remy's arms. "Not important."
"Anyway…" Gary decided to shift the focus to what certainly was important. "I assume you guys are curious to know where you are."
"That'd be real nice…" Timmy snarked.
"It'd be really nice to know where our godparents are, too." Chloe added, unaware of the brown eyes watching her. Hazel couldn't help but notice the visible gap in Chloe's teeth that looked like hers.
"Honestly? Dunno..." Gary exhaled. "We haven't seen them since we got here."
"…when did you get here?" Remy inquired.
"We don't know that either." Dwight confessed. "We woke up not knowing where we were or how we got here just like you guys."
Suddenly, the muscles in Chloe's arms and shoulders bunched, swallowing the dryness in her throat. Hit with the reminder of how mean she was to Dwight, how she yelled at him like that. That was so uncouth of her, and she would regret that deplorable mistake for the rest of her life.
"And you've been here this whole time?" Timmy quizzed.
"Yeah." Dwight confirmed. "We don't really know how long, though."
"How have you guys survived so long by yourselves?" Remy probed.
Gary satirically shrugged his shoulders. "Cannibalism."
Pointing eyes towards that snarky answer, Remy scrunched his face "…why are you like this…"
"And what was that weird magic you used to knock me out!" Timmy's pointed finger pushed against Gary's chest, staggering him two steps backwards.
"Sorry, Tim…" Gary faltered under his cousin's glare, his tone shifting to that of genuine remorse "…but I wasn't in control of that."
"The heck do you mean!?" Timmy interrogated. "It came out of your hands!"
Gary raised his hands in defense. "I'm tellin' you that wasn't me."
"It was the Council's magic." Molly spoke up, gaining the curious stares from the newest crop of kids.
"The Council?" Chloe folded her arms protectively "…you mean the Fairy Council?"
"The one and only."
Molly's pointed finger directed them to a golden frame of a large picture on a wall across the room from the double door. Four figures stood tall on grey rock, nearly as tall as the towering Greek columns behind them. Cloaked in the themed colors of turquoise, pink, purple, and blue robes with yellow slits in the place of eyes that glowed against the pit of black within their drawn hoods.
Out of all the children, Chloe was the only one to broaden her eyes upon the picture. The very picture that guarded the door to the secret passage of Fairy Fort.
While Remy also recognized the picture, his guarded expression did not change. "Did said Council happen to mention what this place is?"
"Called it their own 'Fairy Fortress.'" Gary clarified, combing a loose strand of hair back in place. "Said it was in some other dimension between Earth and Fairy World."
Taking this into consideration, Timmy reckoned that explained not why how Sophia had been unable to reach Gary, but that it must also explain why he himself can no longer reach his sister. "And they said nothing about where our godparents are?"
"No…" Gary regretted, and Timmy groaned.
Tootie turned her attention towards Hazel, seeing her troubled stare towards the woven rug. A stare that could burst into tears if not for numbed fatigue. She had noticed how little Hazel had spoken other than stopping Molly confrontation towards Remy. Was she just as scared? Did a lot of this go over her head, too?
Clutching her notebook, Tootie shuffled her feet towards the girl who looked to be around her age. Staying on ground level as Hazel's ear perked from the sound of someone approaching her.
Hazel lifted her eyes to Tootie's meek wave in greeting. She couldn't bring herself to offer a welcoming smile, but she didn't want to be rude either. "…hi…" she squeaked, searching for courtesy sake when she noticed the pleats in Tootie's skirt that reminded her of her private school uniform "…I like your skirt."
With the same hand she'd used to wave, Tootie tugged at the hem of her plaid skirt as her cheeks flushed "…t-thank you."
"You're welcome…"
"Haze..." Gary turned, noting the tonelessness in an otherwise squeaky voice "…what's wrong?"
Two simple words reignited an ache in her chest that refused to relent. Hazel closed her eyes, lowering her face into upturned knees. Trying to drag her emotions back under where she wished not to feel them as she whimpered "…I miss Nyekundu…"
Returning both arms around her notebook pressed to her chest, Tootie could relate. Wanting so badly to just melt in the soothing embrace of Rose's arms.
Feeling bad for her, Molly stepped back down into the sunken platform, rejoining Hazel on the couch. Using her palm to rub circles in her back, slouching her shoulders. She hated admitting weakness, but she wanted to help lessen the loneliness that Hazel likely felt. "I miss Swizzle, too…"
Dwight hunched his posture, protruding his bottom lip. "I hope Irving's okay…"
Gary winkled his forehead, digging his nails into the leather sleeve of his jacket with downcast eyes. "I wish Alondro was here…"
Timmy grimaced, hanging his head from two more gnawed chunks of his spirit "…I wish Cosmo and Wanda were here…"
Remy's gaze grew distance in the first acknowledgement of sorrow that weighed him down. Coming to realize just how hollow his heart felt without Juandissimo's tender presence.
Chloe wore a mask of resignation, gritting her fists. Anguished at the harsh memory of Susie getting shot down by that Council member "…w-why would they do this…" the hurt in her whisper didn't catch the attention of the others, engrossed in their own pain. Until her whisper grew into a demand for answers that cracked her voice "…why would the Fairy Council hurt our fairies!?"
"The Council didn't hurt them…" Gary acknowledged Chloe's frustration.
"Yes they did!" Chloe argued. "One of them blasted my fairy godmother against the wall!"
Tootie shuddered in empathy. Haunted by the crippling distress of the Council member robed in purple who had shot her godmother to the ground…right in front of her…
"It was a little aggressive, but I promise none of the council hurt your fairies." Dwight tried to reassure. "They just put them to sleep, like we did with you guys."
Chloe pressed her lips, reluctant in accepting that justification. However, Remy had a mind to ask what should've been her next question. "In that case…why separate us from our godparents?"
Gary tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket "…would you believe us if we said they didn't tell us that either?"
"Did you even ask?" Timmy challenged.
"Multiple times." Molly groused. "But they never gave a straight answer."
"But why?!"
"No freakin' clue…"
Scanning the discomforted expressions around the room, Remy decided it'd probably be best to change the subject. Every answer just created more questions "…so…is there more to this place, or what?"
"Um, yeah…" The heaviness in Gary's heart could use a new distraction. "We can show you around."
Molly looked down at the quiet sobs muffled from Hazel's buried face, pursing her lips at what was now Hazel's third crying spell in hours. "I'll stay with Hazel…"
"I can come with." Dwight offered, drifting towards Gary. While part of him was starting to get a little tired, he figured he was not tired enough to ignore the concern for his best friend's mental state. "Plus, I need to stretch my legs…"
"Guess that's as good a reason as any." Gary loosely shrugged, then faced the pink-hatted boy. "What do ya say, cuzzo? That cool with you and your friends?"
Contemplatively, Timmy turned to Remy's casual shrug, Chloe rubbing her arms, and Tootie's timid nod before turning back to Gary's anticipating brow. Even with all of this stuff to consider, Timmy's confliction still had no idea how to feel about his own cousin.